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Westlaw

And this is why I'm thankful that FSU has already made us painfully aware of how to do book research. @#!* paying Westlaw and Lexis those insane rates. Besides, the books on the shelves look pretty impressive to clients.

Excuse me because I'm a 1L, but this seems outrageously expensive. Clearly I don't know about Westlaw research now, but it seems like it would be impossible to maintain a practice using West instead of print research. Can someone who knows about it clue me in on this?

It is extremely expensive, and a number of law students get themselves in trouble every year doing their summers by running up a huge bill on some mundane research project. Use your student account so the firm does not see how bad at research you are. If your school offers a class on book based research, I would take it. I took one last summer and now Iím actually faster in the library then I am online. Most firms will have a law library too.

Most large law firms will have account with Lexis or Westlaw (these may be limited accounts though, like government employers usually have). They will pay a fee for a base number of hours and pay more for anything above that. This is really important for first and second year associates because much of what you do canít be billed to the client (they donít want to pay for your training). So if it takes you five hours of research you may only be able to get 2 from the client, the firm will have to eat the rest of your research time. Thus you can improve how you look to your superiors by knowing how to efficiently use both book and online resources thus limiting the unbillable expense of your research.

Excuse me because I'm a 1L, but this seems outrageously expensive. Clearly I don't know about Westlaw research now, but it seems like it would be impossible to maintain a practice using West instead of print research. Can someone who knows about it clue me in on this?

It is extremely expensive, and a number of law students get themselves in trouble every year doing their summers by running up a huge bill on some mundane research project. Use your student account so the firm does not see how bad at research you are. If your school offers a class on book based research, I would take it. I took one last summer and now Iím actually faster in the library then I am online. Most firms will have a law library too.

Most large law firms will have account with Lexis or Westlaw (these may be limited accounts though, like government employers usually have). They will pay a fee for a base number of hours and pay more for anything above that. This is really important for first and second year associates because much of what you do canít be billed to the client (they donít want to pay for your training). So if it takes you five hours of research you may only be able to get 2 from the client, the firm will have to eat the rest of your research time. Thus you can improve how you look to your superiors by knowing how to efficiently use both book and online resources thus limiting the unbillable expense of your research.

I'm 100% sure that's not allowed...

Its not, does not mean people don't do it. just like your not allowed to copy paste from a westlaw brief into anouther program like your notes, people do it

I worked for a solo practitioner for a few months and she had a Lexis rep come in an pitch her to get her to leave Westlaw. A subscription with unlimited access to cases in the state she practiced in and unlimited Federal was just under $500/month. That also included unlimited access to law journals, but no other secondary sources (treatises, etc.). Her Westlaw subscription was close to $600/month. The price is heavily dependent on the number of users, too. The guy had a grid with him that showed the unlimited prices for varying numbers of attorneys in the office. It would have been about 80% more for a second attorney.

I worked for a solo practitioner for a few months and she had a Lexis rep come in an pitch her to get her to leave Westlaw. A subscription with unlimited access to cases in the state she practiced in and unlimited Federal was just under $500/month. That also included unlimited access to law journals, but no other secondary sources (treatises, etc.). Her Westlaw subscription was close to $600/month. The price is heavily dependent on the number of users, too. The guy had a grid with him that showed the unlimited prices for varying numbers of attorneys in the office. It would have been about 80% more for a second attorney.

Supposedly they renegotiate rates every year, and they use the usage from the prior year to determine the new rate.

I worked for a solo practitioner for a few months and she had a Lexis rep come in an pitch her to get her to leave Westlaw. A subscription with unlimited access to cases in the state she practiced in and unlimited Federal was just under $500/month. That also included unlimited access to law journals, but no other secondary sources (treatises, etc.). Her Westlaw subscription was close to $600/month. The price is heavily dependent on the number of users, too. The guy had a grid with him that showed the unlimited prices for varying numbers of attorneys in the office. It would have been about 80% more for a second attorney.

Supposedly they renegotiate rates every year, and they use the usage from the prior year to determine the new rate.

I could totally buy that. However, I know we used it heavily at her office, so I still imagine that West or Lexis for a Solo is at least reasonable.